Key information

Overview

This new course is designed to equip students from a wide range of professional practice backgrounds with the tools and techniques to instigate and lead innovation in healthcare systems, services and spaces.

In doing so, we’ll provide you with a greater understanding of the UK health system and the systemic challenges it faces to remain sustainable.

You’ll also gain an understanding of behavioural economics and how to apply that to design projects in order to maximise impact. This includes understanding the role of physical products and the environment in shaping people’s behavior.

Some of the skills covered by the course include the ability to:

develop a business case and business model for an innovation, considering market and financial analysis

rapidly research, manufacture and prototype a solution to a healthcare challenge

Imperial and the Royal College of Art

The course draws on the complementary knowledge and expertise of Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art (RCA), and will be delivered at Imperial’s campuses in South Kensington and St Mary’s, as well as at the RCA campus in South Kensington.

This MSc runs alongside an MRes degree awarded by the Royal College of Art. Imperial’s course has been designed for clinicians and healthcare professionals, while the RCA’s MRes is aimed at design professionals.

Both courses build on the partnership between Imperial and the RCA, which comes to life in the HELIX Centre – a design studio in St Mary’s Hospital bringing designers and clinicians together for the first time to solve healthcare challenges.

A key aim of the HELIX Centre is to drive more innovative approaches to healthcare service delivery with better design and planning, more efficient use of resources and greater focus on patient need.

Study programme

The majority of taught modules (six out of eight modules) are shared between this course and the RCA’s MRes course for design professionals.

There are two introductory modules designed specifically for each cohort to introduce the principles of design and healthcare respectively.

Face-to-face teaching will take place in each module during one-week-long intensive sessions when students will be exposed to world leading experts and facilities from both Imperial and the RCA.

You will also have the opportunity to participate in a range of individual and group activities.

Is this programme for you?

This programme has been specifically designed to suit professionals working in or allied to the healthcare system or those with experience of the healthcare space who wish to develop the skills to advance an entrepreneurial idea.

The programme has been developed for part-time delivery, allowing you to attend without having to take a year out of your career. We are also encouraging you to complete your research in your own place of work (under Imperial's supervision), allowing you to embed the knowledge and skills you have learned into your own area of practice.

Careers

Our graduates will be well-placed to advance in a range of directions. Safety and quality are becoming increasingly important topics in the national dialogue of health systems, including the UK’s NHS. This is further compounded by tightening national budgets, and individuals who demonstrate an understanding of patient safety lapses and how to address them are increasingly valued by employers.

Given the portfolio of high-calibre teaching staff, students are able to gain exposure to leaders in industry, academia and policy stakeholders.

You graduate with advanced research skills in healthcare design, including critical design thinking, and entrepreneurship and leadership.

Many graduates pursue further advanced study at PhD level in healthcare related design and innovation areas.

You gain the knowledge and skills to:

Create and lead design innovations across a diverse range of healthcare contexts

Consult in design led innovations for healthcare

Structure

Modules shown are for the current academic year, and are subject to change depending on your year of entry.

Please note that the curriculum of this course is currently being reviewed as part of a College-wide process to introduce a standardised modular structure. As a result, the content and assessment structures of this course may change for your year of entry. We therefore recommend that you check this course page before finalising your application and after submitting it as we will aim to update this page as soon as any changes are ratified by the College.

Find out more about the limited circumstances in which we may need to make changes to or in relation to our courses, the type of changes we may make and how we will tell you about changes we have made.

Structure

Core modules – Year 1

You take all of the modules below.

A Health Business Toolkit (Imperial)

A Health Research Toolkit (Imperial)

Introduction to Design and Innovation (RCA)

Introduction to Design Led Innovation in Healthcare (RCA)

Core modules – Year 2

You take all of the modules below.

Design dash (Imperial)

Designing for Behaviour Change (Imperial)

Innovation (Imperial)

Leadership (Imperial)

Research project

Your research project accounts for one-third of your overall mark, and you are supervised by Imperial with the option of a second supervisor from the RCA.

You will be encouraged to undertake this research project in your workplace. To manage this we may use ‘subject experts’ within your workplace to provide additional support.

Teaching and assessment

Teaching

You will experience a variety of teaching methods appropriate for a part-time degree, with some teaching taking place on campus and some online and at home.

Face-to-face teaching

Your face-to-face teaching takes place in each module during a series of intensive sessions lasting one-week.

You will be exposed to world leading experts and facilities, both at Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art.

Timetabling

This part-time course is taken over over two years, and you have eight individual weeks of intensive teaching (four blocks of two weeks).

The programme has been developed for part-time delivery, allowing you to attend without having to take a year out of your career. We are also encouraging you to complete your research in your own place of work (under Imperial's supervision), allowing you to embed the knowledge and skills you have learned into your own area of practice.

Entry requirements

We welcome students from all over the world and consider all applicants on an individual basis.

Admissions

Minimum academic requirement

Our minimum requirement is a 2.1 degree and either a clinical background or healthcare experience.

International qualifications

The academic requirement above is for applicants who hold or who are working towards a UK qualification.

We also accept a wide variety of international qualifications. For guidance see our Country Index though please note that the standards listed here are the minimum for entry to the College.

If you have any questions about admissions and the standard required for the qualification you hold or are currently studying then please contact the relevant admissions team.

English language requirement (all applicants)

All candidates must demonstrate a minimum level of English language proficiency for admission to the College.

For admission to this course, you must achieve the standard College requirement in the appropriate English language qualification. For details of the minimum grades required to achieve this requirement, please see the English language requirements for postgraduate applicants.

How to apply

You can submit one application form per year of entry, and usually choose up to two courses.

How to apply

Making an application

ATAS certificate

An ATAS certificate is not required for overseas students applying for this course.

Tuition fees and funding

The level of tuition fees you pay is based on your fee status, which we assess based on UK government legislation.

For more information on the funding opportunities that are available, please visit our Fees and Funding website.

Tuition fees

Tuition fees (Home and EU students)

2019 entry

£7,250 per year

Fees are charged by year of entry to the College and not year of study.

Except where otherwise indicated, the fees for students on courses lasting more than one year will increase annually by an amount linked to inflation, including for part-time students on modular programmes. The measure of inflation used will be the Retail Price Index (RPI) value in the April of the calendar year in which the academic session starts e.g. the RPI value in April 2019 will apply to fees for the academic year 2019–2020.

Tuition fees (Overseas and Islands students)

2019 entry

£17,250 per year

Fees are charged by year of entry to the College and not year of study.

Except where otherwise indicated, the fees for students on courses lasting more than one year will increase annually by an amount linked to inflation, including for part-time students on modular programmes. The measure of inflation used will be the Retail Price Index (RPI) value in the April of the calendar year in which the academic session starts e.g. the RPI value in April 2019 will apply to fees for the academic year 2019–2020.

Postgraduate Master's loan

If you are a Home or EU student who meets certain criteria, you may be able to apply for a Postgraduate Master’s Loan of up to £10,280 from the UK government. The loan is not means-tested, and you can choose whether to put it towards your tuition fees or living costs.

Scholarships

We offer a range of scholarships for postgraduate students to support you through your studies. Try our scholarships search tool to see what you might be eligible for.

There are a number of external organisations also offer awards for Imperial students, find out more about non-Imperial scholarships.

Accommodation and living costs

Living costs, including accommodation, are not included in your tuition fees.